Midnight Robber

The first-person narrator returns, telling the unborn child that the following myth, “Tan-Tan and the Rolling Calf,” is the only one Tan-Tan repeats.

This anansi story begins with Tan-Tan on the run for murdering a pimp of young girls. She is heading to a friend’s home in Resurrection Town. Along the way, she remembers the douen curse:

“It ain’t have no magic in do-for-do,

If you take one, you must give back two” (290).

She runs into a woman traveling in the same direction who fears Tan-Tan. Keeping her identity secret, she walks with the woman, Sadie, who accidentally steps on a rolling calf baby. The baby’s mother arrives and attacks Sadie. Tan-Tan fights the large rolling calf and kills it.

Sadie cleans up Tan-Tan a little; when they reach the point where their paths diverge, she offers to house Tan-Tan for the night. Tan-Tan reveals her identity, commanding that Sadie tell the people of Basse-Terre “that is Tan-Tan save your life this night” (295). Shocked, Sadie runs off, and Tan-Tan is left to care for the motherless rolling calf, which she hopes her friend, Pearl, will let stay in her Resurrection Town house.

The main timeline picks up a few weeks later. Tan-Tan, uncomfortably pregnant—over seven months—takes the growing rolling calf off its leash as usual.

Telling Abitefa that she needs new clothes, Tan-Tan visits a settlement she has not been to before. The tailor there is Melonhead, and she dashes out of the shop before he recognizes her. On the street, a boy tells her she has arrived at Sweet Pone. She tries running away but runs right into Melonhead.

He asks Tan-Tan questions, but she gives one-word answers. Melonhead calls her out, asking “Why won’t you talk to me?” (301). He clarifies that he was trying to save Tan-Tan the night she killed Antonio and thought she died in the bush.

Over lunch, she tells him some of the story—leaving out the rape—and how Janisette is pursuing her. Hesitant to leave, she asks if he is partnered with anyone, and he says no. They walk back to his shop (which is also his home), and he offers to walk her home. She admits to living in the bush, and they walk back in a circuitous route.

Melonhead realizes she is pregnant and asks if the baby is Antonio’s. Tan-Tan refuses to talk about it, but he takes her hand. They reach her camp; Tan-Tan’s “hinte talk was getting better” (307), and she warns Abitefa about Melonhead as they approach. She also warns Melonhead about the rolling calf. While initially scared, Melonhead eventually pets the pup’s horn.

They stay together that night, Melonhead taking Abitefa’s place in Tan-Tan’s nest; Tan-Tan pretends to fall asleep right away. In the morning, they have breakfast, and she walks him back to his shop. Two days later, she visits his shop again and asks him to make her clothes.

He measures her and asks about the disguise, but she does not reveal that she is the Robber Queen. Melonhead tells Tan-Tan that it is a few weeks until Carnival.

Melonhead has completed Tan-Tan’s Robber Queen outfit: a cape, hat, belt, and cap guns. It is Carnival, and Tan-Tan admires the other costumes in the town square. There are other Robber Queens as well as devils and Fancy Indians.

However, something feels off. Tan-Tan thinks that because they are on an alternate planet for exiles, Carnival could “only be a phantom of the celebration they would have had on Toussaint” (314). Yet, she tries to enjoy the music, dancing, and Midnight Robber stick-ups.

After dancing for a while, Tan-Tan decides to perform as the Robber Queen and earns coins for her tales. Still looking for Melonhead in the crowd, Tan-Tan and the Sweet Pone villagers see a tank arrive.

Janisette jumps out and gets one handcuff on Tan-Tan, but she jerks her “chained wrist” away (319) before the other is closed. Possessed by the Robber Queen, Tan-Tan confronts Janisette, saying she will never catch her, but then feels guilty and loses momentum.

Janisette tries to run down Tan-Tan in the tank and manages to drag her by catching the cape under the tank’s treads. When Tan-Tan gets to her feet without the cape, someone in the crowd announces she is pregnant. Janisette stops the tank just in front of her belly, asking who the father is.

Tan-Tan sings, telling the tale of Antonio’s exile, and draws her machete. People question her identity, doubting that she is the mythic Tan-Tan. She continues in verse, answering Janisette’s question and publicly admitting to her rape, which stuns the crowd. Janisette still blames her, so Tan-Tan pulls the knife that Janisette had made for her.

Melonhead appears, and Tan-Tan continues her verse, including parts about him, and admits to killing her rapist. Janisette cries, and Tan-Tan declares victory. The crowd rains Carnival money on her, and Melonhead unlocks her handcuff. She tells him she must go back to the bush to give birth.

The first-person narrator returns, revealing that it is speaking to the baby that is being born and is Tan-Tan’s house eshu. Detailing how the technology traveled to New Half-Way Tree, the eshu welcomes the baby into the world.

Switching to the main narrative after Tan-Tan gives birth, she realizes the baby is not a monster and names him Tubman. The eshu ends the story, clarifying the name is from the underground railroad and offers a concluding couplet:

“Call that George, the story done.

Jack Mandora, me nah chose none!” (329)